Summary
Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.), transmitted by Ixodes spp. ticks, is the causative agent of Lyme disease. Although Ixodes spp. ticks are distributed in both Northern and Southern Hemispheres, evidence for the presence of B. burgdorferi s.l. in South America apart from Uruguay is lacking. We now report the presence of culturable spirochetes with flat-wave morphology and borrelial DNA in endemic Ixodes stilesi ticks collected in Chile from environmental vegetation and long-tailed rice rats (Oligoryzomys longicaudatus). Cultured spirochetes and borrelial DNA in ticks were characterized by multilocus sequence typing and by sequencing five other loci (16S and 23S ribosomal genes, 5S-23S intergenic spacer, flaB, ospC). Phylogenetic analysis placed this spirochete as a new genospecies within the Lyme borreliosis group. Its plasmid profile determined by PCR and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis differed from that of B. burgdorferi B31A3. We propose naming this new South American member of the Lyme borreliosis group Borrelia chilensis VA1, in honor of its country of origin.
Canine morbillivirus, also known as canine distemper virus (CDV) is one of the most important infectious diseases threat to the health and conservation of free ranging and captive wild carnivores. CDV vaccination using recombinant vaccines has been recommended for maned wolf (Chrisosyon brachyurus) after the failure of modified live vaccines that induced disease in vaccinated animals. However, there has been a lack of systematic evaluation about the response of this preventive protocol in zoo carnivores due to ethical reasons that do not approve vaccination trials with challenge in that species. Here we report a CDV outbreak in a captive population of maned wolf with an index case that was previously vaccinated with a recombinant vaccine. Five juveniles and one adult from a group of seven maned wolves housed in an outdoor exhibit died in April-May 2013 in a zoo in the Metropolitan Region, Chile. Clinical signs ranged from lethargy to digestive and respiratory signs. Diagnosis of CDV was confirmed by histopathology, antibody assays and viral molecular detection and characterization. The phylogenetic analyses of the nucleotide sequence of H gene of the CDV genome identified in the two positive samples suggest a close relation with the lineage Europe 1, commonly found South America and Chile. CDV infections in maned wolf have not been previously characterized. To the authors best knowledge is the first report of the clinical presentation of CDV in a canine species previously inmmunized with a recombinant vaccine. Further research will be necessary to understand the impact of CDV in wild maned wolf populations and new protocols (with boosters) that could improve the effectiveness of the recombinant vaccine against CDV in wild carnivores.
Transboundary and Emerging DiseasesCanine distemper outbreak by natural infection in a group of vaccinated maned wolves in captivity
El objetivo principal de la investigación ha sido determinar la diversidad vegetal a lo largo del itinerario llevado a cabo en la cara sur de S de Los Filabres situada en el sureste de la Península Ibérica, desde los 800 m de altitud hasta la cima. Las muestras fueron tomadas cada 100 m de desnivel. Además, se han tenido en cuenta magnitudes climáticas y bioclimáticas calculadas para cada estación, en relación con la diversidad registrada. Los aspectos corológicos se consideran también muy importantes para este análisis.
Significance StatementReconciling nature conservation and cultural ecosystem services (CES) has become fundamental to manage mountain protected areas. The timely monitoring of CES opportunities at large scales is therefore a pressing need. We combined social media data and Earth observations (EO) into a multi model inference framework to assess CES opportunities in two contrasting mountain Biosphere Reserves in Southern Europe: Peneda-Gerês (Portugal) and Sierra Nevada (Spain). EO indicators expressing people’s accessibility to leisure elements and landscape visual-sensory characteristics appear to be effective candidates for the monitoring of attributes underlying CES. Our findings recognise EO as complementary tools to socio-cultural approaches for the evaluation of CES, aiding stakeholders in their management decisions focused on the resilience and sustainability of mountain protected areas.
Large-scale ecological variations across Earth have important consequences for biodiversity and, therefore, forbiological conservation. Despite the widespread use of ecological maps in conservation schemes, they have been based mainly on structural and compositional features but scarcely on functional dimensions of life. Incorporating functional variables complements and improves the descriptions of regionalizations and offers a new understanding of biodiversity patterns. The development of remote sensing measurement allows for the description of the functional patterns of ecosystems through Ecosystem Functional Types (EFTs), opening new opportunities to analyze the geography of life. This article aims to examine the relationships between ecological regionalization based on components and structure and patterns of ecosystem functioning. As proof of case, we chose the Baja California peninsula, whose singularity has generated a rich variety of ecological and biogeographical interpretations, mainly based on ecosystem components and structure. We hypothesize that patterns in ecosystem functioning reflect ecoregionalization based on composition and structure features. We identified Ecosystem Functional Types (EFTs), from three descriptors of the seasonal curves of MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) from 2001 to 2017. We characterized each ecoregion in terms of ecosystem functioning and we carried out a correspondence analysis between the EFTs classification and the ecoregions. At a large scale, EFTs showed a pattern with three general regions from northwest to south, capturing the north-south transition of climatic regimes shown in the ecoregions map, from the northwestern Mediterranean area to the southern tropical zone, with a desert transition area between them. However, differences between the functional characterization and some ecoregions were detected in ecoregions identified as discrepancy areas between authors. In particular, some ecoregions considered Mediterranean showed a Desert character in its functioning, and others considered as Desert were Tropical functionally. EFTs remotely sensed measured at regional scales provide the basis for a more comprehensive regionalization of geographical patterns of life and, therefore, an improvement for future conservation purposes.
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